33 Ward Street-Sweeping Schedule Released

Mell was one of 25 aldermen who showed up at a special session of the City Council last week to discuss Mayor Daley’s overhaul of the street-sweeping system. Citing these “dire economic times,” Daley said he wanted sweepers to follow a grid system this year instead of the ward-by-ward plan.

That didn’t go over well with some aldermen, who were not looking forward to losing control of their ward’s street sweeper. Some aldermen were also not happy about the timing of Daley’s announcement, which was made two weeks before sweepers were due to hit the streets. But the grid was scrapped as more and more aldermen complained, and a compromise was reached that gave aldermen control of sweepers for four days.

“[S]ome of my colleagues and I have been able to secure an acceptable compromise for this year that assures us the continuation of the basic program that you have come to rely upon,” said Mell in a statement. “In most, if not all, cases most of you will not notice the changes in scheduling.”

Mell also said his office will use Twitter to help notify residents when sweepers are scheduled to hit the streets.